Raise your hand if you’re tired of reading the same ‘ole team needs articles out there (hand raised). We are opting for a different angle on the team needs. Teams evaluations of needs involve so much more than just saying we need a starter here. They are looking at the depth chart as a more long-term projection.
How’s our backup? How’s our backups contract? Do we have a developmental guy at a certain position?
We ranked each position on each team to form our team needs. This is equal parts math and evaluation. A formula was created that rewarded points for defining worth of a player. With 7 points being the highest value, marking an elite, franchise player. Sad to say but 0 points is attributed to a player with no value on the roster. Think roster fill-in with no real developmental attributes.
We are not evaluating just the starters but a team’s two and three deep. We will start with the running backs from worst to first.
**Special thanks to ourlads.com for their great updates on teams depth charts. Free agents are in blue.
32. Pittsburgh Steelers
Jonathan Dwyer, Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Baron Batch
It’s hard to imagine the Steelers without a feature back but that is the reality in Pittsburgh. Jon Dwyer is capable but not going to cut it on a team with Super Bowl hopes. Rashard Mendenhall is a free agent and wore out his welcome with this organization. Redman gave the Steelers tough carries but isn’t capable of starting and is an average back-up. Baron Batch has stuck around the league with the Steelers but not a guy that they will look to develop over the long haul.